March 7, 2014 4:12PM

Live Free and Learn

By Jason Bedrick

Earlier this week, the Show‐​Me Institute released my study “Live Free and Learn,” the first analysis of New Hampshire’s trailblazing scholarship tax credit program, which is the first in the nation to include homeschoolers. The study found that participants in the program were overwhelmingly low‐​income and nearly universally satisfied. Some of the key findings include:

  • 97 percent of parents of scholarship recipients are satisfied with their chosen private or home school.

  • 68 percent of parents reported that they noticed measurable academic improvement in their child since receiving the scholarship.

  • 91 percent of scholarship recipients had a household income that would qualify for a free or reduced‐​price lunch program under the federal National School Lunch program (185 percent of the federal poverty line, or $43,568 for a family of four).

  • 74 percent of private school parents reported that they would have been unable to afford tuition without the scholarship.

I discuss the findings of the study in greater detail at the Education Next blog.